Broaching the subject of religion with clients is always difficult for financial advisors. In a new FA Mag column, Robert Laura president of SYNEGOS Financial Group writes that this is however something that needs to be addressed.

“I personally have relieved some of the stress and anxiety that can come when mixing business with religion by adding a couple of questions to our risk tolerance/investment policy statement. …I simply ask new clients if there are any personal or religious beliefs that they want us to consider when selecting investments for them. That opens the door to reducing conflicts between their religious beliefs and our normal planning process.”

Financial advisors are increasingly turning to social media to better engage with clients and bring in new ones. In a new WSJ column, C. Andrew Millard, president of North Carolina-based Millard & Co. talks about the benefits of serving clients through videos. The idea is to keep the videos short and focus on one point. He also recommends shooting a video at the office to personalise it, rather than filming in front of a black or white screen.

“Producing videos consistently is also important for your clients. You can’t just do one video and then wait three months to do another one. You’ve got to be consistent in your messaging. You want to create a product that your clients can expect on a schedule and one that they look forward to getting. Another benefit: Over time, your videos will become a body of work that prospective clients can review online to get a sense of who you are before they even come in.”

Gold bull Peter Schiff has launched The EuroPac Gold Fund that will largely invest in gold-mining companies. “We’ve been moving clients from physical gold into gold-mining companies,” Schiff told Investment News. “The stocks have just been crushed. …I’ve never seen sentiment this bad, and you have to love a market everyone hates.” Gold took a beating this year that started in mid-April but gold prices have recover since and are above the $1,300 mark now.